Hi All, Went grocery shopping today and found that Winco carries Agave Nectar! Ive been wanting to try this sweetner as I am not a fan of these other alternative sweetners out there. I came home and tried this on my dry cereal (Kashi 7 grain) and Oh My was it good! And no aftertaste that I could detect. I am already planning to try it on many things. (IMG:http://www.sugarbustersforum.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) If you dont have a Winco in your area, just ask the manager of your local grocery store to stock it. I bought the "light" variety. It was $3.02 for a 11.75 ounce squeeze bottle which looks like it will last a ling time. The brand name is Madhava. Here is their website www.madhavahoney.com . For those of you who do not like to click on these links, I copy and pasted and some information for you.

Agave Nectar has the following characteristics:

1) Because Agave Nectar is high in fructose, it enjoys all the benefits which continue to make fructose a preferred sweetening agent. It is sweeter than refined sugar (approximately 1.4 times sweeter); in fact, fructose offers an equivalent sweetness for nearly half the amount of carbohydrate calories. Fructose does not stimulate digestive insulin secretion as do other sugars. It is less disturbing to the glycemic index. In common parlance, it does not create a ?sugar rush.?

2) Agave Nectar is produced in different grades varying in flavor and color.

The lighter grades of Agave Nectar are flavor neutral, enhancing the natural flavors of coffee, tea, fruit beverages, baked goods, fresh fruits, fruit smoothies, salad dressings, jams and jellies, ice cream, yoghurts, and various prepared foods, without altering their flavor. This is in marked contrast with bee honey, malt barley syrup, and certain other natural sugar substitutes that do alter the flavor of the products which they sweeten.

The amber and dark grades offer the delicate flavor of Agave with increasing intensity. The amber grade is much like honey and delicious in tea, suitable to sweeten a wide variety of foods, dry and hot cereals, pancakes, waffles, baked goods, protein drinks, and sauces. Heavier sauces such as BBQ, spaghetti, stews and meat glazes may be enhanced by the darker grades of this sweetener which deliver the rich and complex flavors distinctive to Agave.

3) Agave Nectar will not crystallize. It is high in purity and stable in composition. It is easy to store as it has a very long shelf life, approximately three years.

4) Agave Nectar is easy to handle. Because of its light viscosity, Agave Nectar is easy to handle in an industrial setting and pours easily as a table-top sweetener. It will never harden in the bottle. Agave Nectar is highly soluble and dissolves readily even in cold beverages such as lemonade or iced teas. Its light viscosity and solubility also make it ideal to sweeten cold cereals.

5) Agave Nectar is a moisture retainer. It increases the water retention properties of food. In bread and baked goods, Agave Nectar enhances product freshness due to its hygroscopic properties which act as humidifying agents, thereby increasing the shelf life of such products.

6) Agave Nectar is certified organic. The manufacturers have obtained organic certification from BCS Oeko Garantie Gmbh, a German firm accredited by the USDA. The Agave crops used in producing Agave Nectar are herbicide and pesticide free. Growers that supply the raw material will use only natural fertilizers and employ agricultural practices that meet organic certification standards. The manufacturers will also obtain organic certification on their manufacturing process.

7) Agave Nectar is KOSHER. The manufacturers have obtained KOSHER PAREVE certification: Special Kosher ? Lepesach production certification for their plant.

8) Total Carbohydrate Grams: Serving Size: This product falls into the "honey" category, and thus its serving size is 1 tablespoon (note: tablespoon and not teaspoon). In turn, 1 tablespoon of Agave Nectar weighs 21 grams. Based on the fact that it contains on the average 77% solids, one serving (1 tablespoon) contains 16 grams total carbohydrates (21 grams x 77% = 16 grams).

(One serving contains 16 grams of total carbohydrates. One gram of carbohydrate provides 4 calories. Therefore, 16 grams of total carbohydrate contains 64 calories, but a few of these calories are not digestible.)

10) Glycemic Index: This is a relatively new concept which can be important from a metabolic standpoint, especially to diabetics, along with athletes and grossly overweight individuals. The index is an indicator as to how much your blood sugar increases in 2-3 hours after specific food consumption. Most if not all carbohydrates are normally metabolized into the simple carbohydrate glucose, which in the glycemic index concept is arbitrarily assigned a value of 100. As a result, the higher a glycemic index food number is, the faster it raises your blood sugar level. Foods or ingredients with glycemic index numbers close to or above 100 present some significant health issues to diabetics, and in general, sweeteners of all kinds should be avoided by diabetics. Nonetheless, for those diabetics who choose to consume certain amounts of carbohydrates, Agave Nectar, it should be noted has a lower glycemic index than honey. Agave Nectar was found to have a glycemic index of 46. In contrast, honey has a reported glycemic index of 58, due to its higher ratio of glucose to fructose, as compared to the ratio of glucose to fructose in Agave Nectar. Please note: these values are based on using glucose as the reference point, which is the currently accepted approach relative to reporting glycemic index. Earlier, white bread was the reference point, but white bread composition can vary widely, and thus glucose is now the preferred base product.

I am so happy to hear this!! Thank you for the info on the Agave sweetener. I found a vanilla yogurt made by Nancy's that has this as the only sweetner in it. Your post gives me assurance I need to try this product for my family. It is so hard to come by a vanilla yogurt without sugar, corn sweetners, or honey in them.